Hale & Hearty

Always We Rambled

Next show:

About Us

Hale & Hearty is a husband-and-wife duo with cellos and other stringed things. Founded in Florida between a tide pool and a motel parking lot and forged into reality in a garage in Toronto, Hale & Hearty are the self-styled floor fiddlers every F-hole lovin’ audience is hunting for.

Rachel Capon

cello & vocals

A native of Gabriola Island, BC, Canadian multi-genre cellist Rachel Capon is currently based in Victoria, BC. At the University of Victoria, studying with cellists Pamela Highbaugh, Aloni & Paula Kifner, Rachel excelled in both the jazz and classical ensembles. In 2010, having relocated to Toronto, Rachel definitively pushed her musical territory beyond the classical realm. In 2011 with the guidance of Yo-Yo Ma, Rachel traveled to New York City to study with avant-garde cellist Mike Block. Later that year studying with celtic cellist Natalie Haas, and five-string fiddle-star Lauren Rioux, Rachel found herself immersed in the world of North American and World fiddle styles and discovering new territories for her beloved cello.

Today Rachel works on a wide range of musical projects—she has performed live with hip-hop artist k-os on MTV, toured as the solo cellist for Illusion Theatreʼs production of My Antonia, and travelled with the Alchemical Opera Project, a one-man opera based on Die Winterreise for which she wrote and performed the solo cello score. Rachel worked for the past four years at the Dixon Hall Music School, where she taught the cello studio and the string orchestra for inner-city Toronto youth. Recently, Rachel worked with Canadian fiddle star Miranda Mulholland (Great Lake Swimmers), releasing and touring Mulholland’s debut album Whipping Girl. In the fall of 2014, Rachel and husband Eli Bender released their first full length album as cello duo Hale & Hearty “Always we Rambled”. Currently Rachel is working with her chamber folk ensemble The Sound Accord on their new album (fall 2016) and looking forward to their upcoming tours in Canada and the US. Having recently relocated to Victoria, Rachel is stepping into her new position as Instructor of Contemporary Cello in the Chwyl Family School of Contemporary Music at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.

Eli Bender

cello, fiddle & vocals

Cellist, educator, and composer, Eli Bender has recently relocated to Victoria, BC where he is the new music director at Selkirk Montessori School. Having completed his studies in Music Education at Michigan State University where his growth as a cellist was overseen by Suren Bagratuni, his work in the realm of creative musicianship led him to study with cello masters such as Mike Block, Natalie Haas, and Rushad Eggleston.

This balance of classical pedagogy and creative musicianship has offered him opportunities to teach and perform with a variety of ensembles including the Marquette Symphony Orchestra, the band Gifts or Creatures, interning with the Fiddlers Restrung of Saline, and acting as Music Director for the Illusion Theater of Minneapolis.

Having recently located to Victoria BC, Eli has taken on new role as Music Director at the Selkirk Montessori School.

"What a delicious surprise [Always We Rambled] is! All of it played with precision and passion and joyful sprightliness."— Richard Flohil (Canadian writer, promoter, publicist and music maven)

“What a delicious surprise this record is! A varied collection of pieces, from folk classics to instrumentals that could be termed “new classical” music (but with melodies!). And all of it played with precision and passion and joyful sprightliness. Hale & Hearty are a cello duo, although the CD includes some tasty support players from time to time.”— Richard Flohil (Canadian writer, promoter, publicist and music maven)